Egg handling apparatus



June 14, 1955 A1C-@LL 2,710,682

EGG HANDLING APPARATUS Filed Aug. 24, 1951 8 Sheets-Sheet 1 el f\^ A\,\1 y IZ 65 i Z4 LQ ..1 6P e5, 2 75 Mmf| im /l/MINIIHIHIIINIIIIHIIHIHIIHV l) I IN V EN TOR.

BY .M M

June 14, 1955 A. L. coLL. 2,710,682

EGG HANDLING APPARATUS Filed Aug. 24. 1951 8 sheets-sheet 2 INVENTOR.1'? 3 BY im caza IMM/wg? June 14, 1955 A. L coLl.

EGG HANDLING APPARATUS 8 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Aug. 24. 1951 Jllne 14, A.L. COLL EGG HANDLING APPARATUS Filed Aug. 24. 1951 8 Sheets-Sheet 4 INVEN TOR.

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June 14, 1955 A. l. COLL EGG HANDLING APPARATUS Filed Aug. 24, 1951 8Sheets-Sheet 5 June 4, 1955 A. L. COLL.

EGG HANDLING APPARATUS 8 Sheets-Sheet 6 Filed Aug. 24, 1951 INVENTOR. YMam June 14, 1955 A. 1 @LL EGG HANDLING APPARATUS 8 Sheets-Sheet 7 FiledAug. 24, 1951 a 3/ x IYI miv ia@ f June 14, 1955 A. L. coLL 2,710,632

EGG HANDLING APPARATUS l Filed Aug. 24. 1951 e sheets-sheet s l |r o"fil: o

INVENTOR BY MM a?? United States Patent ic Patented June i4, i955 EGGHANDLING APPARATUS Archie L. Coil, East Jaifrey, N. H.

Application August 24, 1951, Serial No. 243,427

11 Claims. (Cl. 19S20) This invention comprises new and improvedapparatus or equipment for mechanically collecting eggs from the layingnests and delivering them. to a common depot.

The common practice in the poultry industry is to collect eggs manuallyseveral times a day and deliver them to a central packing room wherethey are graded and crated. A variety of factors have heretofore blockedthe development of mechanical egg collecting apparatus. The eggs arelayed in a variey of places and must accordingly be collected from amultitude of sources. Their delicate nature and unique shape haveheretofore precluded the use of conventional mechanical collecting andconveying apparatus.

It will thus be appreciated that the success of mechanical eggcollecting systems demands first a means of inducing the hens to lay inpredetermined places and a servicing of these places by primarycollecting systems. ln large poultry houses such a large'number of hensare kept, and in such widely separated places, that a number of primarycollecting systems are necessary. Accordingly, a secondary conveyor,served by the primary collecting systems, l.

is necessary to deliver all the eggs to a common depot. A criterion ofthe secondary conveyor is that it must be adapted to collect eggs fromdifferent levels, since hens are normally housed on several floors inthe hen house.

Transfer mechanism must also be provided to transfer the eggs from theprimary collecting system to the secondary conveyor, and from thesecondary conveyor at the collecting depot.

Accordingly the objects of this invention, which provides a successfulmechanical egg collecting apparatus, are to provide nests in which henswill readily lay; to provide such nests from which the eggs are removedas soon as they are laid; and to service such nests by primarycollecting systems. Further objects are to serve the primary collectingsystems by secondary conveyors,

to provide mechanism for transferring the eggs from the primarycollecting systems to the secondary conveyors; to provide a secondaryconveyor adapted to collect eggs from several levels and to deliver themto a depot at any desired level by carrying them upward from the primarycollectors to a convenient point of descent and then downwardly to aremoval station; and to provide mechanism for removing the eggs from thesecondary conveyor and delivering them to appropriate apparatus forfurther processing, such as grading or candling. Another importantobject is to handle the eggs as indicated above with no appreciablebreakage.

In the accomplishment of these objects, and in carrying out thisinvention, nests having a rounded or troughshaped slanting bottom oflateral contour roughly similar to the underside of a hen are arrangedin double backto-back rows along and adjacent to a conveyor belt. Thenests, to and from which the hens are free to go, comprise boxes havingan open front. Thebottom slopes toward the back, and the back wall, nearthe low point of the bottom, is provided with an opening large enough topermit an egg to roll therethrough, out of the nest and onto theadjacent conveyor belt. l'uctant to lay in such a nest.

The conveyor belt, comprising the primary collecting system, runs theentire length of the rows of nests and extends beyond the rows to aloading station where the eggs are transferred to an egg handlingelevator. Preferabiy the loading station is separated from the nests andhens by a partition which is provided with an opening through which theconveyor runs. Similar rows of nests and conveyors are provided on theother floors of the hen house and the elevator also serves these floors.The conveyors are normally stationary and are started up individuallywhenever it is desired to collect the eggs from a series of nests at aselected level.

The elevator or secondary conveyor comprises a continuous or endlessvertical conveyor which carries the eggs upward from the loadingstations, around or across the top of the house, and down the other sideto a common removing station. Means are provided to keep the eggs on theconveyor although each egg'and its supporting means are turned over asthe conveyor passes over the top point in the path of the elevatingconveyor.

The elevator comprises a series of connected panels each provided with apair of outwardly extending egg supporting means adapted to carry anegg. Guide means extend from opposed front and back edges of the paneland align with guide means of the adjacent panels. By this system aseach panel travels over the top of the elevator the egg rolls along theguide means and is transferred onto the forward adjacent panel and isthere carried by the egg supporting means of that panel. A feature ofthis aspect of this invention is that the egg supporting means must beadapted to support an egg from both top or bottom sides.

At the loading station, where the conveyor belt delivers the eggs to theelevating conveyor, a loading mechanisrn transfers the eggs to theelevator. A rail extends more or less diagonally across the belt tocause the eggs to be pushed off the edge of the belt and onto one ormore feeder racks which direct the eggs toward the egg supporting meansof the elevator. It is also preferred to incline the belt laterally atthis point to assist the removal of eggs therefrom. A picker, operatingbetween the feeder racks and the elevator, is preferably provided tolift an egg from Ithe feeder racks and deposit it on the egg supportingmeans of the elevator, thereby to control the flow of eggs from theloading station to the elevator. The motion of the picker issynchronized with that of the elevator so that the picker is in deliveryposition at the same time each egg supporting means reaches the deliverypoint to receive an egg. The eggs are thus loaded on the elevator andcarried by it over the top of its path and downward to the removalstation.

At the removal station the eggs are lifted from the egg supporting meansand delivered to the conventional feeder of an automatic grader. Apusher cooperating with fixed guide arms engages each egg as it nearsthe guide arms and pushes it from the elevator and down the guide armsonto the feeder. Each egg is then moved stepwise along the feeder andinto the grader where it is delivered to the proper sorting tray. Thepushers are synchronized with the elevator to assure the proper removalof each egg from its supporting means.

These and other features of the invention will be best understood andappreciated from the following description of a preferred embodimentthereof, selected for purposes of illustration, and shown in theaccompanying drawings in which:

Fig. 1 is a perspective fragmentary view of the nests and conveyor belt,with parts broken away to reveal structural details;

Fig. 2 is the side elevation of a loading station;

The hens are not re- Fig. 3 is a plan view of a loading station;

Fig. 4 is a front elevation of part of a loading station as viewed from4 4 of Fig. 3 and on a larger scale;

Fig. 5 is a schematic layout suggestive of the motion of the pickers;

Fig. 6 is a perspective view of a fragment of the elevator showing theegg carriers in detail;

Fig. 7 is a front elevation of a carrier;

Fig. 8 is a side elevation of a carrier;

Fig. 9 is a layout showing in side elevation a hen house equipped withloading stations, removal station and egg handling elevator;

Fig. l() is a front elevation showing lthe removal station;

Figs. l1 and l2 are side elevations of the removal station in differentphases of their operating cycle; and

Fig. 13 is a plan view of the removal station, and egg grader andsorting trays.

Referring now to Fig. l each nest 1 is shown to consist of a box havingan open front 2 and a rounded or trough-shaped bottom 3 which slantstoward the back wall 4. The bottom 3 may consist of such materials assheet metal, but is preferably constructed of woven wire hardware cloth.In any case it is desirable that one or more holes 5 be provided to keepthe nests clean by a lowing for the removal of droppings and otherrefuse. The open mesh structure of hardware cloth is ideal for thispurpose. The slope of the bottom 3 must be sutlicient that an egg willroll slowly along it. A hole 6 is provided in the back wall 4 of thenest at the low point of the bottom, so that an egg deposited in thenest will roll out of it through the hole.

It has been found that a nest having a rounded and slanting bottom isentirely satisfactory and attractive to the hens and that they willreadily lay in it, whereas they seem relucant to lay in a nest having asloping at bot tom. Apparently the sensation of the rounded bottom onthe underside of the hens is suliciently suggestive of a soft nestingmaterial normally sought by hens for laying purposes to be considered bythe hens as ideal for nesting.

The bottom 3 is secured between the back wall 4 and a front panel 7. Theback wall comprises two mating sections, 8 and 9, which join along aline dening the curvature of the bottom. The upper section is retained agroove 11 which also defines the curvature of the boti tom of the nest,this groove being slightly higher than the joinder of the back wallsections to provide the proper slope to the bottom. The bottom 3 isengaged and supported in said groove 11 at the front edge, and issecured between the mating back sections 8 and 9 at the back edge.

The nests 1 are arranged back-to-back in two parallel rows each flankingone side of a conveyor belt 12, which extends the entire length of therows. The belt 12 runs beyond one end of the row of nests to a loadingstation 20, shown generally in Figs. 2 and 3, and preferably through apartition 21 which separates the rows of nests from the loading stationarea. Beyond the nests, which act as sides for the belt, the belt runsbetween a pair of side boards 22 and 23, which prevent the eggs fromrolling off the sides of the belt, after the belt has emerged frombetween two rows of nests. The conveyor belt 12 is normally stationaryand may be driven by conventional means such as the end roller 24 aroundwhich the belt passes. The driving mechanism is herein shown ascomprising a sprocket 25 keyed to the shaft 26 to which the end roller24 is also secured. A chain drive 27 extending from a speed reductionunit 23 powered by an electric motor 28a provides power to thc sprocket2S and end roller 24.

At the loading station the eggs are transferred to the secondaryconveyor by which they are delivered eventually to a common collectiondepot, other loading stations also serving to supply eggs to thesecondary conveyor. A layout of a secondary conveyor comprising an egghandling elevator is shown in Fig. 9. Loading stations 20 on the threefloors of the hen house 51 may each deliver eggs to the verticalelevator from whence the eggs are carried upward, around the top of thepath and downward to the removal station 29.

The elevator 30 consists of a parallel pair of continuous roller chains31 which carry throughout their length adjacently disposed egg carriers32. The top of the elevator 30, between the ascending and descendingsections, is supported to provide for a gradual upsetting of the eggcarriers 32 so that each egg as it is carried over the top of theelevator is caused to roll gently forward onto the forward carrier, asexplained more fully below. In the preferred apparatus, shown in Fig. 9,the elevator is supported at its top on three supporting members 33, 34and 3S, each shown as comprising a pair of sprockets over which theroller chains pass so that the section between the irst supportingmember 33 and the second supporting member 34 is inclined downward atabout 20 and the section between the second support 34 and the thirdsupport 3S is inclined more steeply, at about 45. Thus each egg betweenits ascent and descent is carried over two downwardly inclined sectionsof the conveyor during which time it is Lansferred to the carrierlocated in advance of the one which supported it during its ascent.Other equivalent means of supporting the top of the elevator to causethe gradual upsetting of the carriers necessary for proper gentletransfer of the eggs to the forward carrier may also be used. Forinstance a pair of supporting members, providing a single inclinedregion between the ascending and descending sections of the conveyor maybe used, or alternatively, a single pair of large sprockets over whichthe carriers are gradually upset is satisfactory.

The remainder of the elevator is supported in a conventional manner asby two pairs of sprockets 36 and 37 at the bottom between the ascendingand descending sections. The elevator is driven through any one of thepairs of supporting sprockets such as the pair of sprockets 35 at thetop of the descending section, as shown, a motor 38 and reduction gear39, connected through a belt drive 40, provides the source of power.

From the foregoing description it is apparent that thc egg carriers musteach be adapted to support an egg on both the top and bottom sides, andthat an egg must be free to roll from one carrier to the forward carrieras it passes over the top of the elevator.

A preferred carrier is shown in detail in Figs. 6, 7 and 8. Eachconsists of a panel 41, having one or more pairs of outwardly extendingfingers 42 situated about midway between the top and bottom. The fingers42 each have an enlarged end, and they are arranged in parallel pairs ofsuch spacing that an egg may rest upon each pair, with the enlarged endsections serving to prevent the egg from rolling outwardly, as suggestedby the drawings. vEach finger conveniently consists of a pin having avertical ring mounted radially at its outward end. Sleeves 46 of rubber,or other soft resilient material, are preferably mounted on the lingersto help minimize breakage, but they may be omitted if desired.

Guideways extend inwardly from the top and bottom edges of each carrierin alignment with each pair of fingers and with the guideways of theadjacent carriers, to help guide each egg from its carrier to theforward carrier as it passes over the top of the elevator. ln thcpreferred apparatus these guideways consist of longitudinally alignedgrooves 47 which extend across each carrier, between the pairs offingers 42, the guideway portion being the outer sections of saidgrooves.

A pair of guards 48 surrounding each pair of fingers are also preferablyprovided to help keep the eggs within the confines of the carriers.Although the eggs seldom contact the guards, it has been foundoccasionally that an egg fails to alight properly on the fingers and isthen only retained on the carrier by means of the guards. The guard mayconsist of a V-shaped wire bail spaced laterally from each finger withits apex outwardly disposed and its plane vertical, as shown, or it mayconsist of any element adapted to support an egg between itself and oneiinger.

The carrier panels are mounted adjacently along the entire length of theconveyor, with sutiicient space between them to allow them to passaround the several sprockets without interference with each other. Inthe preferred apparatus, which utilizes a pair of roller chains 31 tocarry the panels, each panel is mounted on a link having an outwardlyextending L-shaped bracket. ln the apparatus shown in the drawings eachcarrier panel is provided with two pairs of lingers, two guideways, andtwo guard bails to adapt it to carry two eggs.

With this type of carrier it has ben found desirable to mount over thetop of the elevator at the point just before the eggs tend to roll fromtheir supporting fingers, a downwardly extending dat spring 49 whichcontacts the eggs to prevent them from rolling too rapidly onto theforward carrier by holding each egg on its original carrier until thatcarrier is fully aligned with the next preceding carrier, as best shownin Fig. 9. This spring may be omitted if desired if the inclination ofthe carriers at the point of transfer is not steep enough to result inappreciable breakage.

At the loading stations the eggs are removed from the belt conveyors 12and fed onto the elevator 30. This is conveniently done by means of aguide rail 52 which extends more or less diagonally across the belt andengages the eggs to prevent their continued travel along the belt 12,and to direct them off the side of the belt where it passes theelevator. The side board 23 on the removal side of the belt terminatesshort of the guide rail to allow the eggs to be removed from the side ofthe belt. In this removal region it is also desirable to incline thebelt to the removal side as shown at S4 in Fig. 4.

Extending from the edge of the belt 12 opposite each vertical row ofcarrier fingers ti2 on the elevator is a pair of feeder racks 56a and56h, and 57a and 57h (designated generally as 56 and 57), more or lessaligned with said fingers. Each pair of feeder racks is iianked by guardrails SS situated so as to prevent eggs from rolling oft' said racks S6and S7. The guard rails between adjacent eeder racks extend inwardlyover said belt and join in a linger S9 directed slightly into thedirection of motion of said belt. Eggs may thus be removed from the beltto iiow onto the feeder racks 56 and 57.

Each feeder rack is bowed slightly near its end whereby each pair formsa cradle 60 adapted to hold an egg and prevent its rolling from the endof the pair of racks which support it. A second bowed region 61 ispreferably pro vided in the rack just inwardly from said terminal bow.Thus the feeder racks 56 and 4'/ cradle two eggs at their end andprevent the eggs from rolling freely along the rack and off the end. Theends of each pair of feeder racks 56 and 57 terminate just outwardlyfrom the ends of the passing iingers 42 of the carriers which they feed,the terminal cradle 60 being spaced from the carrier fingers 42 byapproximately the same distance that it is spaced from the inwardlyadjacent cradle 6i.

A picker 65 is provided to transfer the eggs from each pair of thefeeder racks to the carrier fingers of the elcvator. It consists of avertical parallel pair of bed members 66 having slightly concave topsurfaces spaced and arranged to pass between the pairs of racks.Extending normally horizontally from said bed members toward theelevator is a fork member 67, pivotally mounted to swing upward on a pin68 extending between said bed members 66. The fork member 67 is mountedin a normally horizontal position level with the top of the bed members66 and may be swung upward. The fork member 67 is bowed downwardlywhereby an egg may rest thereon, and it is suiciently narrow to passbetween the lingers 42 of the carriers.

The picker 65 is caused to travel translationally in a circular motionupward between the feeder racks 56 and 57 and downward with the forkmember 67 between the carrier fingers 42. The bed member 66 and forkmember 67 are spaced to correspond to the two cradle sections 60 and 61provided in the pair of feeder racks 56 and 57. Thus the picker picks uptwo eggs on its upward motion between the feeder racks and carries themforward and downward to deposit the egg on the fork member 67 on thecarrier fingers 42 and the egg on the bed member 66 on the terminalcradle 60 of the feeder rack, as suggested in Fig. 4 where eggs invarious positions are indicated in broken lines.

The motion of the picker is synchronized with the motion of the elevatorso that the fork member passes downwardly through each pair of carrierfingers. This is conveniently done by mounting the picker on ahorizontal brace 76 which is secured to an arm 72 mounted horizontallyand eccentrically between two sprockets 73 and 74 driven in synchronismby a timer chain 75. One of said sprockets 73 is driven by a coaxialdriving sprocket '76 which engages the roller chain 31 of the elevator30, said drivingsprocket having the same number Of teeth as there arelinks between adjacent carriers. Fig. 5 outlines the motion of thepicker 65 and eccentric arm 72.

At the removal station shown in Figs. 10, ll, l2 and 13 the eggs arecarried downward onto a fixed pair of guide arms it@ which extendbetween the carrier lingers 42. Pusher bars $2 rotatably mounted belowthe guide arms S0 swing upward each time the carrier fingers 42 pass theguide arms 8i) to eject the egg carried by the fingers along the guidearms to any desired destination, shown illustratively as the feeder S4of a grader 35. After the egg is ejected the pusher bars S2 swing backto position for receiving the next egg.

The pusher bars 82 are driven through the mechanism which controls thegrader feeder S4, and its motion is synchronized with the motion of theelevator 30, so that the pusher bars S2 complete a cycle each time acarrier panel 41 advances to the unloading position. Synchronism isconveniently provided by driving the grader feeder 84 through a sprocket(not shown) which engages the roller chain 3i of the elevator, in thesame manner that the picket 65 is synchronized with the elevator.

in the illustrated apparatus the eggs are pushed onto a pair ofstationary parallel supporting bars 87 between which operate a slide bar88. The slide bar 88 is provided with a series of cups 89 spaced tocorrespond to the spacing of the eggs as they rest on the supportingbars 87. The slide bar S8 is driven in translational cyclical motion,coming up between the bars S7 to pick up the eggs, then forward and downto deposit them farther along the bars 87. in this manner the eggs aremoved stepwise into the grader as 'they are ejected from the elevator.

The operation of the grader feeder 84 and pusher bars 82 is controlledby a crank arm 90 and coaxial ecentric cam 91 having a block follower92, the center of the eccentric carn 9i leading the crank arm 90 byabout 90 in the illustrated apparatus. The crank arm 96 is connectedthrough a connecting rod 94 to the slide bar 88` and imparts backwardand forward motion thereto. An actuating rod 96 is connected to theblock follower 92 by means of a pin 9@ and slot 10@ arrangement whichallows the block 92 to move vertically independently of the actuatingrod 96. The actuating rod 96 operates a triangular bell crank 1b?. whichis mounted on a journalled shaft 10d above and across the actuating rod96. A pin 106 links the actuating rod 96 with the lower corner of thebell crank 102.

The left corner of the bell crank, in the view shown in Fig. carries aroller 108 which supports the slide bar 83 and imparts the prescribedvertical motion to it.

The shaft 104, to which the bell crank 162 is fastened, is keyed to anarm 110 which is connected through an intermediate link 112 to a walkingbeamI li pivoted near its midpoint. The arm 110 is positioned tooscillate in an arc, with said shaft, from a maximum clockwise positionslightly to the left of the vertical to a maximum counterclocltwiseposition slightly above the horizontal.

The walking beam 114 is thus caused to oscillate synchronously with thearm 110.

The pusher bars 82 are mounted at their lower end on a rotatably mountedshaft 116. A crank arm 18 extends from this shaft 116 approximatelyparallel to the walking beam 114, and the end of this arm HS and thefree end of the walking beam H4 are linked `together by a connectinglink 120.

The grader feeder mechanism is synchronized with the elevator so thatthe actuating rod 96 starts its motion to the right in the View shown inFig. l0 when the carrier fingers 42 come about even with the tips ofpusher bars 82. This causes counterclocltwise rotation of the bell crank102 and of the arm 110 which is coaxial with the bcll crank. Thus thewalking beam H4 is rocked clockwise as are the pusher bars S2, and in sodoing they pass upward through the carrier lingers 2 and away from theelevator 33 to push any egg on the carrier fingers 42 off, along theguide arms Si) and onto the parallel supporting bars S7 of the graderfeeder 84. At the end of this operation the actuating rod 96 begins itsmotion to the left, 3

thereby causing the pusher bars 82 to return to their lower position andthe slide bar 88 to raise and lift the eggs from the parallel supportingbars S7. After the eggs are lifted by the slide bar 8S, the crank 90causes the slide bar 88 to advance to the left and carry the eggs alongthe grader feeder S4 into the grader 85. Thus the eggs are transferredfrom each carrier onto the grader feeder and then carried along thegrader feeder into the grader, where they are sorted and discharged uponthe sorting trays 86. ln passing along the grader feeder S4, the eggspass a tab 122 which aligns them with their long dimension parallel totheir direction of travel, so that they are properly positioned for thegrader 85.

In actual practice the hens lay their eggs in the nests 1 from whencethey roll along the sloping trough-shaped bottom 3 thereof through thehole 6 in the back wall 4 and onto the belt conveyor 12.

To collect these eggs, and carry them to the grader, the elevator' 30 isfirst started in motion, thereby simultaneously driving the picker atthe loading stations 29 and the ejector at the removal station 29. Thebelt conveyor 12 serving the row of nests from which it is desired tocollect the eggs is then started, thereby bringing the cggs to theremoval station to which that belt feeds. The

eggs, on passing over the inclined section 54 of the belt 12, beyond theend of the side board Z3, and upon contacting the guide rail 52, flowbetween the guard rails 5S and onto the feeder racks 5t? and 57 wherethey settle in the cradles 6) and 61 formed at the ends of the feederracks 56 and 57. The pickers 65 pick up the two eggs at the end of eachpair of feeder racks, and carry them forward, setting the egg from theend of each feeder rack onto the carrier fingers 42, and setting the eggfrom the inward cradle 6l of the rack onto the terminal cradle 60,thereafter the cycle being repeated to transfer this second egg to thenext pair of carrier fingers.

The eggs are carried upward by the elevator and post the loadingstations on the upper oors. rThe pickers at these stations are normallyoperating, being also driven by the roller chain of the elevator, butare not delivering eggs. As these upper pickers pass the carrier fingerswhich are now carrying eggs, the fork extensions 67, which pass betweenthe carrier fingers t2 are swiveletl upward upon contacting the eggs onthc carrier fingers, thus folding them out of the way.

fili

When these upper stations are again used to deliver eggs to theelevator, the eggs will be forced along the feeder racks of each stationand will then cause the fori: member 67 on the picker 65 to swivel backto its hori- :rental position. lt will be seen that the eggs themselvescause the swivelling of the fork member 6'/ up or down according to thenecessities of its operation.

The eggs are carried over the top of the elevator, whereupon theyContact the downwardly extending flat spring 99 mounted above the top ofthe elevator. The spring 99 yields to the continued motion of the eggunder it, while holding it upon its original carrier until the eggpasses beyond the said spring. Thereafter the egg rolls forward alongthe guideway 47 and usually onto the lingers 42 of the next forwardcarrier.

Occasionally an egg does not so roll. It may deviate from its normalcourse and settle between the lingers and the guard balls 43, for whichevent the guard bails are provided, or it may, because of its oblateform remain on its original carrier. Upon passing over the middlesupporting sprockets 34, any such egg will be transferred to the forwardcarrier because of the steeper inclination at which it is then carried.

The eggs are then carried downward to the removal station 29 where thepusher bars 82 eject them from the carrier, along the guide arms andonto the grader feeder 84, where they pass to the grader and areautomatically sorted onto sorting trays 86.

It will be understood that the entire apparatus is supported and drivenby conventional mechanism, and that conventional and necessary adjustingmeans adapted to take into account wear, dimensional changes of theelevator, belt etc. are provided but not described in detail.

The bottoms 3 of the nests 1 may be removed, for renewal or cleaning, bylifting the top part 8 of the back panel 4, in its guideways 1l) andpulling the bottom 3 back so that its front edge disengages from thegroove 11 in the front panel 7. Thereafter the bottom 3 is replaced byinserting a sheet of the desired material of appropriate dimensions intoposition, engaging its front edge in the groove 11 and resting its backedge on the top surface of the lower panel 9 of the back 4, andthereafter replacing the top back panel 8 to engage the bottom 3 inplace.

It is contemplated that modification of this apparatus will be obviousto those skilled in the art, and that such modifications may be madewithout departing from the scope of this invention. For instance, in thepreferred apparatus described herein the nests are arranged in doublerows along opposite sides of the primary conveyor. It is consideredobvious that the nests may also be arranged in a single row along oneside of each primary conveyor, or they may be staggered along one orboth sides of the conveyors, with their bottoms sloping toward theconveyors so that the eggs may roll from the nests onto the conveyors.Also other means than those described may be used to drive the variouselements and to synchronize their operation, for instance the loadingstations, removal station and grader may be driven dit rectly from theelevator driving unit rather than from the supporting chain asdescribed. These and other modifications obvious to those skilled in theart are believed to be within the scope of this invention.

By means of the apparatus of this invention a threestory hen househousing 3000 hens on each oor is served and it has three double rows ofnests each feet long, on each door. The conveyors between each row feeda single elevator of the type described, each panel carrying two eggs,and this elevator delivers the eggs to a single grader at the maximumrate of 3600 eggs per hour.

Having thus disclosed my invention and described in detail anillustrative embodiment thereof, what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent is:

1. An egg handling elevator comprising an endless continuous conveyorhaving ascending and descending sections, a plurality of egg carriersadjacently disposed continuously along said conveyor, each carriercomprising a supporting panel having longitudinally aligned groovesections extending inwardly from opposed sides of said panel, thegrooves of all the panels being in substantial longitudinal alignment,spaced finger members intermediately situated on said panel to supportan egg in alignment with said grooves during ascendency and descendencyon opposite sides of said fingers, upper supporting means for saidconveyor intermediate said ascending and descending sections over whichthe conveyor travels and at which the carriers are turned over, saidsupporting means being adapted to turn over said carriers gradually toallow each egg to roll in said groove members from one carrier to theone immediately preceding, and to be there supported during descendencyon the other side of said egg supporting finger members, lowersupporting means intermediate the descending and ascending sections ofsaid conveyor, and driving means therefor.

2. An egg handling elevator comprising an endless continuous conveyorhaving ascending and descending sections, a plurality of egg carriersadjacently disposed continuously along said conveyor, each carriercomprising a supporting panel having longitudinally aligned groovesections extending inwardly from opposed sides of said panel, thegrooves of all the panels being in substantial longitudinal alignment,and egg supporting means intermediately situated on said panel tosupport an egg in alignment with said grooves during ascendency anddescendency on opposite sides of said egg supporting means, uppersupporting means for said conveyor intermediate said ascending anddescending sections over which the conveyor travels and over which thecarriers are turned over, said supporting means being adapted to turnover said carriers to allow each egg to roll in said groove members fromone carrier to the one immediately preceding, and to be there supportedduring descendency on the other side of said egg supporting means, lowersupporting means intermediate the descending and ascending sections ofsaid conveyor, and driving means therefor.

3. In egg handling apparatus a device to transfer eggs from a movingbelt to the fingers of an elevator of the class described comprising aguide rail adapted to urge the eggs to the side of the belt extendingdiagonally across said belt, means inclining the belt in the vicinity ofsaid guide rail, egg feeder racks aligned with the elevator fingers andextending outward from said side of the belt,

guard means adapted to direct eggs onto and along said egg feeder racks,and a circularly and translationally moving bed synchronized with saidelevator to travel upward between said racks and lift an egg therefrom,and downward between said fingers to deposit the egg thereon.

4. A device to load eggs on the ascending supporting fingers of an egghandling elevator comprising a pair of feed racks aligned with saidfingers onto which the eggs are fed, a circularly and translationallymoving picker synchronized with said elevator to travel upward betweenthe ends of said feed racks and lift an egg therefrom, and downwardbetween the fingers of the elevator to deposit the egg thereon, saidpicker comprising a bed member adapted to support an egg and a normallyhorizontal forward extension also adapted to support an egg and beingpivotally mounted for upward swinging, said extension passing betweensaid fingers during the downward motion of said picker, whereby thepicker lifts the two adjacent eggs from the end of the racks during itsupward motion, and during its downward motion deposits the egg from theend of the rack onto the fingers of the elevator and deposits theadjacent egg on the end of the rack, thus feeding the eggs along therack and onto the fingers of the elevator.

5. An egg handling elevator comprising an endless continuous conveyorhaving ascending and descending sections, a plurality of egg carriersadjacently disposed continuously along said conveyor, each carriercomprising a supporting panel having longitudinally aligned groovesections extending inwardly from opposed sides of said panel, thegrooves of all the panels being in substantial longitudinal alignment,spaced finger members intermediately situated on said panel to supportan egg in alignment with said grooves during ascendency and descendencyon opposite sides of said fingers, and guard bails surrounding each pairof fingers to prevent an egg from falling laterally off them, uppersupporting means for said conveyor intermediate said ascending anddescending sections over which the conveyor travels and over which thecarriers are turned over, said supporting means being adapted to turnover said carriers gradually to allow each egg to roll in said groovemembers from one carrier to the one immediately preceding, and to bethere supported during descendency on the other side of said eggsupporting finger members, downwardly extending fiat springs over thetop of said elevator adapted to contact each egg on its carrier as itturns over and urge it thereon until said carrier is aligned with thenext preceding carrier, lower supporting means intermediate thedescending and ascending sections of said conveyor, and driving meanstherefor.

6. An egg carrier for an egg handling elevator comprising a panel,aligned guideways on a face of said panel extending inwardly fromopposed edges thereof, and egg supporting fingers having enlarged outerends intermediately situated on said panel to support an egg inalignment with said guideways.

7. An egg carrier for an egg handling elevator comprising a panel, agroove extending across a face of said panel adapted to guide a rollingegg, and two outwardly extending fingers having enlargedends-intermediately situated on said panel one on each side of saidgroove.

8. An egg carrier for an egg handling elevator comprising a rectangularpanel, a groove extending across a face of said panel adapted to guide arolling egg, two outwardly extending fingers having enlarged endsintermediately situated on said panel one on each side of said groove,and two guard bails extending outwardly from said panel parallel withsaid groove and surrounding said fingers and spaced therefrom to preventan egg from falling laterally off said fingers.

9. Egg collecting apparatus comprising a hen house containing aplurality of horizontally movable primary conveyors situated one aboveanother; an egg handling elevator comprising an endless continuousconveyor having ascending and descending sections, a plurality of eggcarriers adjacently disposed continuously along said conveyor, eachcarrier comprising a supporting panel having longitudinally alignedgroove sections extending inwardly from opposed sides of said panel, thegrooves of all the panels being in substantial longitudinal alignment,and egg supporting fingers intermediately situated on said panel tosupport an egg in alignment with said grooves during ascendency anddescendency on opposite sides of said fingers, upper supporting meansfor said conveyor intermediate said ascending and descending sectionsover which the conveyor travels and over which the carriers are turnedover, said supporting means being adapted to turn ovei said carriers toallow each egg to roll in said groove members from one carrier to theone immediately preceding, and to be there supported during descendencyon the other side of said egg supporting means, lower supporting meansintermediate the descending and ascending sections of said conveyor, anddriving means therefor; means for transferring eggs from said primaryconveyor to the ascending section of said elevator including a pair offeed racks aligned with said fingers onto which the eggs are fed fromsaid primary conveyor, a circularly and transla- I'tionally moving bedoperating between said racks and said supporting lingers adapted to liftan egg from said racks and place it on said fingers, the motion of saidbed being synchronized with that of the elevator so that the bed duringits downward motion passes said supporting fingers during their upwardmotion; and means for removing eggs frorn said elevator at apredetermined location along the descending section comprising a pair ofstationary guide arms extending toward said elevator in egg interceptingrelationship with the fingers thereon, pusher bars cooperative with saidguide arms, and means synchronized with said elevator to actuate saidpusher bars outward from said elevator to eject eggs from said fingersand along said guide arms.

10. An egg handling elevator comprising an endless continuous conveyorhaving ascending and descending sections, a plurality of egg carriersadjacently disposed continuously along said conveyor, each carriercomprising a supporting panel having longitudinally aligned groovesections extending inwardly from opposed sides of said panel, thegrooves of all the panels being in substantial longitudinal alignment,spaced finger members intermediately situated on said panel to supportan egg in alignment with said grooves during ascendency and descendencyon opposite sides of said fingers, and guard bails surrounding each pairof lingers to prevent an egg from falling laterally o them, uppersupporting `means for said conveyor intermediate said ascending anddescending sections over which the conveyor travels and over which thecarriers are turned over, said supporting means being adapted to turnover said carriers gradually to allow each egg to roll 12 in said groovemembers from one carrier to the one immediately preceding, and to bethere supported during descendency on the other side of said eggsupporting finger members, lower supporting means intermediate thedescending and ascending sections of said conveyor, and driving meanstherefor.

11. An egg carrier for an egg handling elevator comprising a panel,aligned groove sections on the face of said panel extending inwardlyfrom opposed edges thereof, and egg supporting means extending outwardlyfrom the face of said panel between said opposed edges and adapted tosupport an egg on either side in alignment with said groove sections.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNTED STATES PATENTS 746,247Baggaley Dec. 8, 1903 967,758 Goldman Aug. 16, 1910 1,020,746 DehlerMar. 19, 1912 1,457,562 Thomas June 5, 1923 1,796,119 Olson Mar. l0,1931 1,959,799 Potthof May 22, 1934 2,105,058 Smith et al Jan. 11, 19382,264,156 Apple Nov. 25, 1941 2,371,783 Sneed et al Mar. 20, 19452,417,823 Hodson et al Mar. 25, 1947 2,430,689 Shook Nov. 11, 19472,512,861 Hill June 27, 1950 2,589,228 Cordis Mar. 18, 1952

